Up early, and off to catch the first ferry over to Kintyre which despite being part of mainland Scotland, feels a lot more remote than Arran. (I guess Arran really isn’t very remote at all, and is fairly close to Glasgow when you think about it.) The road signs are caked in decades worth of dirt and the ferry drops us off in what appears to be the middle of nowhere: the ferry terminal consists of a bus shelter and a portaloo.

Since last year’s trip went so well, Moz and I decided we should head back up into the islands again this year. Our original plans, of heading up over the Easter break were thwarted by bad weather, so we had to wait until August before we both had some free time. Which meant we missed the July heatwave. Oh well. Probably a good thing right? Wouldn’t want to be too hot. Relaxing on those nice Hebridean beaches with some beer. In the sun. Much better for it to be overcast and changeable.

Step one: try and remember how to fit everything onto the back of one bike:

Here’s hoping we haven’t forgotten anything important

Notice that I have a new bike! The nice elegant looking red one. My last bike got stolen from my flat’s stair, which meant a new (and better) bike was required! I was a little nervous about it, as I’ve already had a flat tire while out cycling. Perhaps bad luck. Or perhaps those road tires really don’t like stony paths.

The plan this year involved Moz leaving his car in Edinburgh, and we’d both take the train from Edinburgh to Ardrossan and catch the ferry over to Arran. From there, we’d head to Kintyre, Islay, Jura and Colonsay and then catch the train home from Oban.